How I Made Early Semi-Retirement Possible by Living With Less

Originally published 26 August 2024 · Updated 20 October 2026

When I first started considering retirement, I was nervous. I knew my income would drop, possibly by half or more. The problem was that I needed what I was earning just to keep the lifestyle I already had going.

I was making a good income, and my lifestyle showed it. The more I made, the more I spent. I was continuously upgrading my phone, my vehicle, and even my home. I always had to have the latest and greatest because I told myself I needed it, I deserved it, and I worked hard for it and I should reward myself.

Then I sat down with my financial planner and looked at what it would take to keep living that way without the same income coming in. It was obvious I had to make some big changes before I could leave.

I didn’t retire with no money

An earlier version of this article had “with no money” in the title. That gave the wrong impression. I sold a business and other assets, paid down debt, and continued earning through flexible work.

Those resources made a difference. I couldn’t honestly tell you I walked away with nothing and somehow made retirement work.

What I can tell you is how I reduced what I needed to earn. That was the part I had overlooked for too long.

The house was a good place to start

I had a home of about 2,400 square feet and used relatively little of it. It still needed paying for, looking after, and maintaining.

I sold it and bought somewhere smaller with cash. Removing the mortgage changed the monthly figures considerably. I also sold a sports car and kept a more practical vehicle.

I wanted the big house, but I didn’t need it. Something smaller would suit me better. I wanted the sports car too. I will admit that it was fun, but it wasn’t practical. I sold it and kept my SUV.

When I started looking honestly at my purchases, I discovered how often I had bought things to impress people. Sometimes they were people I barely knew. Why was I working so hard to keep doing that?

Downsizing has costs of its own: moving, selling fees, repairs, and sometimes ongoing property charges. The new place also needs to suit your health, transport, and the people you want nearby. Check the whole arrangement before assuming smaller means cheaper.

Fewer payments gave me room to move

I made being debt-free a condition of leaving my business. Credit cards, vehicle payments, personal loans, and the mortgage: I wanted those payments gone. Selling assets, including my home, helped make that possible.

I also gave myself a spending allowance. If I spent it early in the week and wanted something else, guess what? I didn’t buy it, no matter how good the deal looked. The allowance was separate from the money for everyday living expenses.

If you don’t have assets to sell, the process will look different and may take longer. Reducing debt or testing a shorter working week can still be progress. There is no prize for making the biggest change all at once.

The useful starting point is what your life really costs over a year. Include the repairs, insurance, healthcare, taxes, and other bills that disappear from view when you only look at a normal month.

I carried on earning

I found that I enjoyed creating content and learning how to develop it into different formats. It gave me something to do and a more flexible way to earn.

It wasn’t effortless. The early earnings were small, and there was plenty to learn. I wouldn’t build an essential living budget around a project that hadn’t yet proved it could earn reliably after costs.

I also had an annuity funded from the sale of my business, that I had set up, and would pay dividends that I invested in REIT’s. Due to my past experience dealing with rental properties. Though I liked th eidea and stability in investing in real-estate, I didn’t want to do all the work that comes with being a landlord. If you’re considering setting up your own annuity like I did, start by understanding the differences and costs, then get advice suited to your circumstances.

I call the result semi-retirement. I still work, but only when I want to, and not when I have to. I have more say over the work and a better quality of life around the work I do now.

Allow for the year that doesn’t go to plan

It’s tempting to plan around a quiet month when everything is paid and nothing breaks. Life doesn’t always cooperate.

Prices rise. Health care needs change. Investments and projects can have poor years. Before leaving dependable income, understand your pension and benefit arrangements, keep a suitable reserve, and get help checking whether the plan holds up when things go wrong.

If moving abroad is part of the dream, like it was for me, then there are visas, healthcare, tax, and exchange rates belong in the budget too. A cheap rental number in a YouTube video or on a blog doesn’t cover the whole move, there is a lot more to it than that.

I changed what enough looked like

I am a numbers person. Once I had a clearer idea of what I needed financially for a year, I then worked the numbers backwards to a monthly and weekly budget. I had to make several adjustments before I got it right.

I still bought things I wanted occasionally. You need to live and enjoy yourself too. The difference was that I now planned for those purchases instead of going into debt for them, by simply swiping the credit card.

For me, freedom meant giving up the need to always have more. I had enough things. What I wanted was time to enjoy my life.

That didn’t remove financial limits. It made the life I wanted more affordable for me.

You can see my historical Canadian-dollar budget here. And before filling all that free time with beach plans, read what I discovered about life after leaving work. I had rather underestimated the number of hours in a week.